Since World War II, the West, led by the U.S., has consistently led efforts to formulate international conventions that defined a moral and legal framework for the laws of war. The original idea to set universal rules of war and hold accountable those who violated them was a logical conclusion from the horrors of the world wars.
But what began as a vision where the whole world conducts wars only under a normative framework that protects human life and reduces suffering, has long since become a farce not only in terms of protecting human life, but also in maintaining the Western bloc as a counterweight to the forces hostile to it.
The West led the formulation of impressive international conventions, but even in the West, the rules were always flexible. While the moral stance was and still is a source of pride for many, in countless cases it’s no more than lip service. Time and again, Western leaders choose to ignore violations of the laws of war when it’s convenient for them – for example, in settling for symbolic criticism against China’s human rights track record for fear of damaging trade relations with Beijing, or in avoiding significant intervention in the Syrian civil war after Assad used chemical weapons. While the Americans do indeed apply stricter rules to themselves than their enemies, even the U.S. didn’t really scrutinize when it itself fought in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. So who do the rules apply to?
The U.S. enforces the rules mainly on those it can – its allies. The Obama administration was hesitant in pressuring Iran on its repeated violations of human rights, as it focused on a deal on Iran’s nuclear program. In Egypt, Obama was quick to support the coup of the Muslim brothers, enemies of the West, and to condemn the military coup that ousted them from power a year later. The Biden administration boycotted Saudi Arabia because of the murder of a dissident journalist, which opened the door for a Saudi reconciliation with Iran. In a perfect world, the West is advocating for admirable values. In the real world, this is first-rate strategic foolishness, which leads the US to repeatedly abandon its most important allies, pushing them into the arm of the new Axis.
Israel has no alternative to the alliance with the US. This makes the Jewish state susceptible to pressure from Washington. The IDF, as has been said many times, is the most moral army in the world mainly because it’s the only one trying to be one. Even before October 7, Israel was subject to all kinds of rules and inventions not enforced anywhere else in the world – from giving advanced warning before it attacks to putting its own soldiers at risk to protect enemy civilians. Every shot is carefully examined, every deviation invites international condemnation. On the other side, Russia, Iran, and China don’t let international conventions stand in the way of their plans, to put it mildly.
Now, war stands at the doorstep of the U.S. and its allies, whether they want it or not. The new Axis countries are growing stronger while the U.S. continues to speak in beautiful language to enemies who do not share the same values. If the West continues to stand on moral principles against ruthless enemies who master in exploiting those self-imposed restrictions, the West may find itself beaten and defeated. To win the struggle imposed on it, the West must find a way to balance between its idyllic aspirations and the needs of reality.
This article is part of Forbes Israel’s special project: The Assault on the West
